New Hampshire

I have to confess; the main reason why trip number 4 was set to run between September and December was to visit the northeastern states right in the middle of autumn for obvious reason that have to deal with foliage, and what better state to see the spectacle of leaves changing colors, than New Hampshire!!

Scotty entering the new state and as usual, bringing a fabulous weather with it

Once again we decided that it was better to find a campground near the places we wanted to visit, but that meant to drive sometimes more than an hour to reach those beautiful destinations that would show us the splendor of fall.

KANCAMAGUS HWY

Probably the most well known area in NH to see different colors. We were told that this year wasn’t that good because it was a too dry summer but we could still see a variety well worth the drive towards Lincoln, a beautiful ski resort type of town ( our campground was in Ossipee).

Everytime we have the chance to find a trail to walk, we are there!! 10,000 to 15,000 steps a day will do ☺

GOLFING IN NH

Did anyone say who wants to play golf in NH? I said…. yes!! me ☺

CASTLE IN THE CLOUDS

This is a fascinating story: introducing a self millionaire named Thomas Plant who was born in Bath, Maine from a working class family. He made his millions making shoes (at some point he had 5,000 employees producing 6 million shoes per year). Once he decided to retire and already married to his second wife, Olive Dewey ( 26 years his junior), they decided to buy a large estate ( 6,300 acres) and build a house, golf course, tennis court, guests houses, etc. They built the mansion between 1,913 and 1,914 employing hundreds of workers. They enjoyed this estate for almost 40 years but due to misfortunes and bad business decisions, they had to obtain bank loans on the property and things began to go south until his death in 1,941. Afterwards, Olive was forced to leave the property and return back to her family’s home in Illinois with just her personal belongings. The property was purchased by the Robbie brothers. Since 2006 the estate has been owned and operated by the Castle Preservation Society

CLASSIC CAR SHOW AT THE CASTLE IN THE CLOUDS

I can’t be luckier!! The day when we visited the castle, there was a classic car show that I couldn’t resist attending!! Oh man…. so many beautiful cars from the 50s, 60s and 70s!!

Lincoln Continental Mark IV 1,974

Chevy Belair estate

Cadillac Fleetwood 1,975 and another older Cadillac

A collection of Lamborghini

My preferred classic car ( Chevrolet Corvette C1 1,959 )

Jim the owner… we had a good chat about his toy

Jim let me in!!

Oh well…. one day

I knew it!! My Mercedes Benz CLK 240 that I had in Scotland one day would become a Classic Car.

This one is a complete surprise to me….. two instrument clusters, one in front and another one in the back!!

But this one is definitely the jewel of the crown…. a Stanley Steamer from 1,917!! 108 years and still runs. I had a fascinating chat with the owner, Richard Dickie who owns it since 1,972. I had no idea about a car that has a boiler and no transmission that can just run as a locomotive, a steam engine.

I managed to capture a pic of the boiler!

And here’s this marvel leaving the premises

Jaguar E

Ford Thunderbird in pristine condition

The same car in action now

LOST RIVER GORGE AND CAVES

At our arrival at the campground, we met Nancy, a lovely lady from Florida who gave me a lecture of the places to visit in our 3 day stay in NH. One of them was Flume Gorge, a trail we shouldn’t miss; that’s what she said.

Off we went and right from the start we knew this was going to be spectacular looking at the reception building… BUT surprise!! Sold out …. 2,800 people came before us and there were no more tickets for the day. The natural beauty is so spectacular that it fills out quickly! It is part of the Franconia Notch State Park.

If that’s the entrance…….

This is what we’d be seeing!!!

A friend of mine (Steve who is a full time RVer and travels with his wife Sue all over the country) sent me this picture that came up on the local news…. this was the long line of cars heading to the park in Lincoln. Simply crazy….

So, filled with deception, the manager of this site gave us a light of hope and she directed us to visit another similar ( but not as spectacular) site just a few miles down the road known as Lost River Gorge and Caves…. it was actually a wonderful walk!!

Hiding in the nest

And just to top it off, we met a super nice couple from Pennsylvania ( Laurie and David Wilbur) who made our journey as fun as it can be….

COG RAILWAY AT MOUNT WASHINGTON

Nancy also suggested that we should visit Mount Washington by riding the COG RAILWAY. And this is another interesting story: all began when Sylvester Marsh, a New Hampshire native who, after a perilous 1857 hike up Mount Washington, conceived the world’s first mountain-climbing cog railway in 1858 to make summit access safer and easier. Despite widespread skepticism and even legislative laughter, Marsh secured a charter and began construction in 1866, culminating in the first ascent to the summit on July 3, 1869. The innovative “Marsh Cog” system, using a rack and pinion to drive the train up steep grades, became the model for subsequent mountain railways worldwide

Quite a steep ride! for 3 feet of lenght, one foot of elevation ( from 2,700 ft to 6,288 ft at the summit)

Precise location of the summit

SILVER LAKE

After the train ride, it was time to relax, have a packed lunch by a nice lake and come back to the campground!. Next day is traveling day to the next state

Tree number 35 was planted right at the entrance of the Beaver Hollow Campground in Ossipee , NH

Lovely Jeannie ( manager of the campground) showed her kindness once again by posing in the picture!

And so we finished the visit to New Hampshire giving as a great impression.

Thanks for reading!